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Dolmades are grape leaves that are stuffed with various ingredients. I had never eaten grape leaves before and the idea of stuffing them with a tasty filling sounded really good. I have been wanting to try making them ever since I saw Peter's dolmades post. I recently came across a jar of grape leaves and the dolmades quickly made it to my meal plan.

I had a bit of trouble getting the grape leaves out of the jar as they were packed in so tightly but after that they were fairly easy to work with. I covered the grape leaves in boiling water to make sure that they were tender. (You could also boil them briefly.) I also rinsed them a few times to remove any salt from the packing liquid. The grape leaves that I got had their stems removed so that was one less step that I had to do.

Overall the dolmades were pretty easy to make though it took a bit of time to stuff all of them. They turned out pretty well. One of the reasons that I really enjoy Greek cuisine is because it commonly includes lots of mint and dill which are two of my favorite herbs. With the herbs, feta and avgolemono sauce the dolmades were really tasty! The grape leaves themselves were nice and I look forward to using them again.

Place a tablespoon of filling in the middle of the leaf and fold the sides over the filling and roll the leaf up. (See Peter's post for some good step by step photos showing how to fold the grape leaves.) Repeat until all of the filling is used up.

Place stuffed grape leaves into a baking dish in layers and just cover with chicken stock.

Bake in a 375F/190C oven for about 1 hour.

Whisk the eggs in bowl over a small pan of simmering water until frothy, about 3 minutes.

Slowly pour in the lemon juice while whisking.

Add some of the liquid from the baking dish and continue whisking until it thickens.

Mix most of the avgolemeno sauce into the dish with the dolmades reserving some for garnish.

Serve the dolmades garnished with the reserved avgolemeno sauce and some chopped dill and or mint.

I am loving your arabian/greek posts - probably because I am in Dubai and enjoying all these specialities (baklava and these stuffed vine leaves). I think you ought to come out here to get a taste of them LOL!

who you did a great job i make these all the time as im greek but i have been so lasy and have made then in a while so now that i have seen yours im gonna make them tomorrow and they tast great with TZATZIKI good job

THANK YOU for this and for referring us to Peter's post. I spend 3 years in Cyprus as a kid and really loved dolmades, but have a really hard time finding any in the states that aren't canned or tinned. (Tinned, stuffed dolmades... how sad). It didn't even occur to me that I could make them myself. Thanks for the inspiration!

When I was in university I tried to make dolmades but I failed to rinse the grape leaves enough. It was so briny I couldn't eat it. blech. I always order it at Greek restaurants and yours look authentic! Yummy photos!

I ended up making grilled fish wrapped in grape leaves a couple weeks ago and yes! Isn't getting those grape leaves out of the jar a total pain? I'll never understand why they don't put them in a wide mouth jar!

Now I have a bunch of grape leaves leftover and was thinking about dolmades. Thanks for the recipe!

Emily MacIntosh: You should be able to find them in jars in the Mediterranean section of your grocery store. I have seen them at Food Basics and Metro. If you cannot find them in a local grocery store they have them at the small import shop in the lower level at the St Lawrence Market. You can also get them in the small Greek grocery stores in Greek Town around Pape and Danforth.

I tried this recipe tonight and they were beautiful but when I cooked them in the oven the grape leaves fell apart...cooked too long. Just wondering why they are cooked after they are rolled...is that really necessary?

Jane Goncalves: I have never had the grape leaves bust open like that! They are baked after assembling because the meat and rice are placed in them uncooked and they cook as they bake allowing the flavours to mingle and the leaves to soften a bit as normally they are pretty tough.

I'm sorry but I made this twice and have a couple issues. The feta cheese is really gross in this, but it's just my opinion. I'd cover the dish while cooking or the skins could burn. The rice was aldente so, ehh. Won't make this again.

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About Me

I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.